Category Archives: Garage Floor Covering

If you are currently looking for flooring options for your home, then you have a wide variety of options from which to choose. Two of the more popular options include tiles and carpet. In this article, I will discuss why tiled garage floor covering makes for a better flooring option around the home than carpet, so that you can make a more educated purchasing decision.

Better Durability And Longer Lasting

When tiled garage floor covering is used around the home, you can expect it to last significantly longer than carpeting. This is especially true if you’re like me and have pets. After all, one of the biggest reasons why homeowners have to replace carpet is that the cat shredded it with his paws. If you have garage floor tiles installed on your floor, then you won’t have to worry about your cat pulling them up. Tiled garage floor covering can withstand all sorts of wear and tear that most carpets can’t stand.

Tiled Garage Floor Covering Is Easier To Clean

If you have pets, then you can understand how hard it is sometimes to keep carpet clean. The same applies if you have young children who tend to spill food and liquids on the floor. Unless the spill is cleaned immediately, the carpet will soak up a significant amount of the liquid and permanently stain. However, when dealing with tiles, this isn’t as much of an issue. When it comes to liquid spills, all that you have to do is mop up the mess. Tiles are much less likely to stain from something that is spilled on them. If you drop a load of dirt on your floor, or if your child tracks some mud in from outdoors, then the carpet will trap a certain amount of that dirt so that you can’t clean it all up. With tiles, on the other hand, all that you normally have to do is wipe or sweep up the mess.

Ceramic Garage Floor Tiles From SGroveTile.com

Tiled Floor Covering Is Healthier Than Carpets

Another problem that comes with the use of carpets is that most carpets will trap in allergens, such as dust mites. This can make you and the occupants of the home ill. I recently got rid of some old carpet, and when I disposed of it at the landfill, the dust just came out of it in clouds. Some areas of it resembled a dirty diaper. It was so nasty that I was embarrassed of it. And, to think that my family and I were breathing in some of that stuff while that carpet was in place. Instead of installing new carpet to replace that old stuff, I put in some garage floor tiles, which will not trap in these allergens. You just have to mop or sweep up the floor every now and then. Sometimes, I will use the Swiffer products to do this.

If you are looking for new and unique ways to improve the look and feel of your home, then tiled floor coverings might be a better fit for you than carpet. While carpets come in many different colors, you can get tiles in many different colors, with designs printed on them. You can mix and match these tiles across your floor to really create something that’s unique. For instance, you can easily create a checkered pattern on your floor with tiles. While doing that with carpet is possible, it’s a lot more difficult.

Easy And Less Expensive To Install

If you intend to install your new floor by yourself, then you will have an easier time of doing it with tiles than if you try to install new carpet. This is especially true if you are using the interlocking tiles that snap together by hand and don’t involve the use of an adhesive. Anyone can put those together. The only potential issue might be in cutting certain tiles to just the right sizes on the perimeter of the floor. With carpet, you usually have to hire a professional to install it for you, which can make carpet a more expensive option than the tiles, even though the tiles are more expensive in terms of material costs.

Tile floor coverings are a much better option than carpet for a number of reasons that include easier installation for the perfect DIY project, more durability, ease of cleaning, and a healthier home. You also have a variety of design options from which to choose in order to personalize your home. Now, go out and buy some garage floor tiles today!

After careful consideration of the benefits and the pitfalls of using garage floor covering, you have made the decision to install some on your garage floor in order to protect it from the abrasions that might result from everyday wear and tear. However, before you buy any, there are a number of decisions that you need to make, such as what kind you’re going to buy, how much you’re going to need, and where you’re going to get it. In this article, I will highlight some of the more important things that you need to consider before you purchase any garage floor covering.

What Is The Purpose Of Your Garage?

Before you purchase any garage floor covering, one of the first questions that you need to ask yourself is what you intend to use the garage for. This is often one of the biggest determining factors when it comes to what kind of garage floor covering will work best for you. For instance, if you intend to use your garage as a workshop and as a place to park your car, then more economical garage floor mats might work best for you. However, if you intend to convert your garage to an entertainment center, then more expensive, yet durable, garage floor tiles might be the best option.

How Much Garage Floor Covering Will You Need?

You need to determine just how much garage floor covering you’re going to need in order to adequately cover up your garage floor. This will help you get an idea as to how much it will cost you to protect your garage floor. Before you make any purchases, you will need to take measurements of your garage floor in order to obtain the area of the floor in square feet.

How Much Are You Willing To Pay?

You need to figure out how much you can afford to pay for your garage floor covering. Along with the intended use of your garage, cost considerations usually determine what kind of garage floor covering you end up using. The cheapest methods of covering your garage floor are using vinyl or foam mats, or simply painting the floor with standard floor paint. The more expensive garage floor coverings are epoxy floor coverings and garage floor tiles. Each option has its own set of advantages and disadvantages that need to be considered, along with cost considerations.

How Critical Is The Floor Finish?

You need to decide just how critical the floor finish is. If you need the garage floor to have a shiny and sparkling showroom finish, then you should probably use epoxy garage floor covering. If the floor finish is not overly critical, then you can probably get away with using standard floor paint or floor mats to cover your floor.

Shiny Showroom Floor From Western Industrial Technology, Inc

How Willing Are You To Maintain Your Floor?

Each type of garage floor covering requires a certain amount of maintenance in order to keep your garage floor looking and working at its best. Solid tile floor coverings, especially the ceramic tiles, require the least amount of maintenance due to their durability. On the other extreme, painted floors require that you repaint the floor about every year. So, while some options are more expensive than others, they don’t necessarily cost as much to maintain.

How Long Do You Plan To Live Here?

To an extent, the amount of time that you plan to live in your current location may have an influence on your selection. For instance, tile floor coverings that are of the peel-and-stick variety cannot be pulled up and taken with you if you decide to move. Once they are installed, they are permanent. If you would like to have tile floor covering, but aren’t sure just how long you intend to live in your current home, you should probably use the interlocking tiles which snap together by hand and aren’t permanently fixed to the floor. These tiles are easy to take apart and put back together in another garage.

Interlocking Garage Floor Tiles From Alibaba.com

Other Things To Do Before Buying Garage Floor Covering

In addition to asking yourself the above questions, you should also do the following things before you commit to purchasing a certain type and brand of garage floor covering.

– You should make an effort to familiarize yourself with the leading suppliers and brands of garage floor covering. You can do this by visiting the garage floor covering page on this website, or by doing a Google search to get an idea of what suppliers produce the types of garage floor covering in which you are interested. From there, you can visit home improvement-related blogs, websites, and forums that discuss this topic. It is at these online places where you might be able to learn about what brands are the best and which brands should be avoided.

– Once you have an idea regarding which brands are the best for the particular type of floor covering that interests you, you should contact them and speak to their customer service representatives for more information. They can advise you further on what type of floor covering is best for your needs, and how much of it you’ll need. You can get quotes from numerous suppliers, allowing you to comparison shop for the best available prices. When you buy garage floor covering, they should be able to give you some helpful advice on the best ways to install it in your garage.

– You can also visit the local hardware store or the local home improvement chain store in your area and see if they have any selection. The customer service representatives at these stores are often very knowledgeable and can give you advice on a wide variety of issues related to installing garage floor covering.

– If you know anyone who recently installed garage floor covering in their garage, then you should definitely talk with them and see what kind of floor covering they used, where they got it, and how much they paid for it. They might be able to point you in the direction of a really good deal.

If you take the time to take the items discussed in this article into careful consideration, then you will have a much better chance of selecting a type of garage floor covering that will work wonderfully for your needs and satisfy you in the years to come.

Using garage floor covering carries with it a number of benefits. The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the key benefits to help you determine if garage floor covering is right for you, along with a discussion on the different types of garage floor covering that are available and where you can get it.

Improve The Appearance Of Your Shop With Garage Floor Covering

Garage floor covering can go a long way toward improving the look and feel of your garage by covering up a stained and dingy concrete floor, and may even help it blend in with the rest of your home. In addition to covering up unsightly stains on your garage floor, it can make it much more comfortable for you to stand for prolonged periods of time. If you’ve ever had to stand on a hard concrete floor for hours on end, you know how painful it can be on your feet. Garage floor covering can protect a cement floor from dirt, oil, grease, and other liquids that might otherwise penetrate the porous cement. Most garage floor coverings don’t absorb these types of liquids, so they are very easy to clean.

There are a wide variety of garage floor coverings from which to choose, including mats, tiles, paints, and epoxies. Each garage floor covering has its own unique benefits. Mats are fairly economical and can help protect people from slips and falls. They are also quite easy to install and come in a variety of textures. Epoxy garage floor covering can give your garage floor a very shiny showroom appearance. Tile garage floor covering gives you a variety of colors and patterns to give your garage floor a really artistic flair. It is much more durable and longer-lasting than the other options. The same can be said for most vinyl garage floor covering.

Easy Installation With Plenty Of Options

Garage floor covering, for the most part, is fairly easy to install, eliminating the need for professional installation, making it an even more economical option. In some instances, it may even increase the value of your home, especially as many garage floor coverings are permanent. This is something to keep in mind before you decide on what type of garage floor covering that you want to use. In addition to the benefits mentioned above, garage floor covering could potentially create other uses for your garage in the event that you no longer want to use your garage for working on cars and doing other types of handiwork. Garage floor covering, for instance, would make it possible to convert your garage into an entertainment center or a man cave, complete with a pool table, living room furniture, and other items.

These are just some of the things to consider when deciding on whether you would like to have garage floor covering for your garage.

Vinyl or rubber mats for garage floors is usually easiest to install among the many garage floor covering options. You just drop the mats wherever you want to use them. You can buy the material that goes into the mats, in several big rolls, also known as roll-out garage flooring, but installation of that is also easier than the installation of other garage floor covering types. When installing these mats, there is no surface preparation involved, like there is with epoxy garage floor coating and peel and stick tiles. The mats can be used immediately upon installation, where epoxy floor coverings may need to cure for 3-4 days before they can be used. Vinyl and rubber mats can provide a much more comfortable surface on which to stand for long periods of time. Epoxy and tiled surfaces are harder and can be less comfortable over time. This type of floor covering is usually the least expensive as well.

Garage Flooring Mats That Interlock

However, the mats aren’t as durable as some of the tile floor coverings. They can absorb liquid spills, making them more difficult to clean than tiles or epoxy floor coverings. Some cleaning solvents may even damage the mats. The mats don’t seal the underlying garage floor against moisture and liquids like epoxies do. Also, as the mats are simply dropped wherever they’re being used, there is nothing holding them in place, which means that they could shift while someone is standing on them, possibly causing injury.

Rolls Of Garage Floor Covering Material

Epoxy Garage Floor Covering

An epoxy garage floor coating can give your garage floor a glossy showroom appearance that reflects light, which can go a long way toward brightening up an otherwise dark, dull, and gloomy garage. The surface is self-leveling and is abrasion-resistant once it cures. Epoxy floor coverings seal the underlying garage floor against penetration from moisture and liquids that might otherwise damage the floor. The epoxies that are used in garage floor covering applications tend to have higher viscosities than most floor paints, which translates into a more durable surface upon curing. Epoxy garage floor covering comes in a wide variety of colors by which you can customize the look and feel of your garage.

A Garage Floor With Epoxy Floor Covering

However, epoxy floor coverings have a number of disadvantages when compared to other garage flooring options. For starters, extensive surface preparation is required prior to installation to insure that the epoxy adheres to the floor. This is a very labor-intensive process. The floor must be free of all dirt, grease, and surface imperfections. Any cracks or chips need to be repaired first. If your floor has oil stains that can’t be removed, then the epoxy might not adhere to your floor. Most epoxies are two-part systems that require precise mixing of the individual components. If the mix is off by either bit, it could result in a floor that doesn’t fully cure. The consequences of this could be disastrous. You also need to work in a well-ventilated area while installing epoxy floor coating, as most epoxies tend to give off fumes as they cure. You should wear a mask to avoid breathing these fumes, along with gloves and goggles to ensure that you don’t get any resin on your body. All of the special precautions that need to be taken both before and during the installation of epoxy floor covering often lead homeowners to hire a professional to do the job, which isn’t cheap.

Garage Floor Covering Tiles

Ceramic and PVC garage floor tiles represent the most durable form of garage floor covering. The tiles have a hard surface that doesn’t absorb liquids, making them easier to keep clean. Most tiled surfaces are slip-resistant, which can protect you from any injuries that might result from a slip and fall. Most tile garage floor covering is easy to install, especially the interlocking tiles that snap together by hand. When working with interlocking garage floor tiles, no surface preparation is required. You just snap them together and lay them in place. There is no mixing of resin involved, and no fumes. You can use the floor immediately upon installation. You don’t have to wait for the floor to cure. In addition to the above advantages, tiles give you the most design flexibility when compared to other garage flooring options. They come in a wide variety of colors, some of them with numerous designs. For instance, if you’re a racing fan, then you can have tile floor covering installed that has a checkered flag pattern. When using tiled floor coverings, you have the option of converting your garage into an entertainment center or a man cave later on. You can’t necessarily do this with some of the other floor covering options.

There are also some disadvantages to using garage floor covering tiles. If you use the peel and stick tiles that are on the market, then you will need to do quite a bit of surface preparation, just like you would do to an epoxied floor in order to insure adhesion of the tiles to the floor. Also, the peel and stick tiles can’t be moved once they are installed. They are there for good. If you move, you can’t take them with you. The interlocking tiles could shift while you’re standing on them since there is nothing holding them in place. If you use rigid tiles, then they may develop cracks over time that may lead to penetration of the floor by liquids that could damage it. Certain cheap tile varieties are susceptible to warping and cracking over time, which could cause you some headaches. You’ll need to do your research to determine which tile brands you should avoid. You should also be careful when cleaning your tiles as some cleaners may diminish the finish and surfaces of your tiles.

Suppliers Of Garage Floor Covering

If you are looking to buy some high-quality garage floor covering, then there are a wide variety of suppliers who can suit your needs. Below is a list of a few of them to help you get started in your search.

Better Life Technology – This company is the world’s largest producer of garage floor protector mats. They sell their products through a network of distributors. You can find them online at www.bltllc.com.

3M – You may know this industrial powerhouse for its famous Scotch tape or for its Post-It notes, but this company makes everything from road reflectors to garage floor covering, which includes their Colorquartz industrial floor coating. You can order from their website at www.shop3m.com.

GarageFloor.com – You can visit this website to browse their selection of floor paints, garage floor tiles, mats, and so much more.

Armor Poxy – These folks manufacture and sell high-quality, long lasting coating and covering systems for commercial and residential flooring and roofing applications. Visit them online at www.armorpoxy.com.

U Coat It – These guys sell do-it-yourself floor coverings that are designed to provide a durable and protective finish that lasts. You can visit them online at www.ucoatit.com.

From reading this article, you should now have a better understanding of the many benefits that garage floor covering can offer, the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of garage flooring options, and where you can get a garage floor covering that is right for you.